Display rack with recovery means



Sept. 6, 1966 cs. E. BRIGGS DISPLAY RACK WITH RECOVERY MEANS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 15, 1964 INVENTOR: GEORGE E. BRIGGS ATT'YSSept. 6, 1966 G. E. BRIGGS DISPLAY RACK WITH RECOVERY MEANS Filed April15, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 3 HWHW FIG. 5

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INVENTORI GEORGE E. BRIGGS J ATT'YS United States Patent nois Filed Apr.15, 1964, Ser. No. 359,849 1 Claim. (Cl. 21159) This invention relatesto a display rack equipped with recovery means. More particularly, theinvention is concerned with stepped display racks for packagedmerchandise which are provided with means for retrieving merchandisepackages that are accidentally dislodged.

Packaged merchandise such as carded products can be convenientlydisplayed on a rack having a series of hanger-equipped bars which arearranged in st-air step fashion from the front to the rear of the rack.Since the carded products must be readily removable by the salespersonor customer, there is a considerable likelihood that items ofmerchandise will be accidentally dislodged or dropped as they are beingremoved or replaced. For example, the removal of one card, unless thisis done with considerable care, may result in other adjoining cardsbeing dislodged from their hangers. The problem of the recovery andreplacement of merchandise on such racks is therefore a serious one. Itis rendered more acute by the fact that if a person attempts to reachdown through the hanger bars in an effort to retrieve the merchandisecards from the top of the cabinet base, it is almost impossible to dothis without dislodging additional cards, especially when the rack iscompletely filled with inerchandise and the individual hangers havetheir full quota of merchandise. Because of this problem, such steppeddisplay racks have not met with much favor, although they otherwise area simple and convenient means of displaying a large number of items ofcarded merchandise in a readily viewable arrangement which isparticularly desirable for customer self-service. Here again, however,the customers, not being aware of the problem of package dislodgement,are very likely to knock off one or more packages in obtaining thedesired item. The result of this is that the display rack either looksunattractive and messy, or requires very frequent attention by asalesperson.

It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to providemeans for overcoming the problems and difiiculties described above whilepermitting the advantageous features of a stepped display rack to befully utilized as a means for displaying packaged or carded merchandise.Further objects and advantages will be indicated in the followingdetailed specification.

This invention is shown in an illustrative embodiment in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a display rack incorporating thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the same rackillustrating the merchandise retrieval tray in two positions; 7

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the merchandise retrieval tray;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the merchandise retrieval traytaken on lines 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the display rack with themerchandise retrieval tray removed;

FIG. 6 is a partial fragmentary perspective view of the rack with theretrieval tray removed, showing one of the lower tracks; and

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view showing one of the pairs ofcooperating roller tracks in operative relat-ion.

Looking first at FIG. 1, there is shown a display rack "ice having ahorizontally-extending base 10 which provides an open front for the rackand includes side panels 11 and 12 extending upwardly above the base toenclose the ends of the rack. Preferably, a rear panel 13 is alsoprovided to enclose the back of the display rack. In the illustrationgiven, the side panels 11 and 12 are triangular, and are arranged toextend upwardly and rearwardly from the front of the rack. Side panels11 and 12 and rear panel 13 may be advantageously formed integrally withthe corresponding side and rear panels of the base 10.

The base 10 also provides a horizontal top 14, as seen more clearly inFIGS. 5 and 6. The top 14 provides a surface for supporting andcooperating with the tray retrieval means which will be subsequentlydescribed.

In the illustration given, base 10 is in the form of a cabinet, whichprovides space for a plurality of drawers 15, and is supported on legs.These elements, however, are conventional and are not directly relatedto the present invention. It will be understood that extra supplies ofthe packaged merchandise can be stored in the drawers 15, and whenrequired the packaged merchandise can be used to replenish the stock onthe rack, as will subsequently be described.

The stepped display rack includes a plurality of horizontal bars, suchas the bars 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, and 162. These bars extend horizontallybetween the side panels 11 and 12, and are secured to the side panels bysuitable attachment means, such as metal screws 27 (FIG. 4), spotwelding, etc. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bars are arranged inupwardly stepped relation from the front of the rack. Each of the barsis provided with a plurality of hanger means spaced along the bars forremovably supporting a multiplicity of packaged merchandise. In theillustration given, the hangers consist of hook-shaped brackets 17 andpins 18'. The construction of the bracket members 17 and pins 18 isshown more clearly in FIG. 4. As there shown, the brackets 17 may beprovided with an upper hook portion 17a and a lower hook portion 17b.This construction permits the brackets to be slidingly adjusted inposition along the bars, while at the same time tending to prevent themfrom becoming unintentionally detached. If desired, however, thebrackets can be removed by tilting the bottom portion outwardly farenough for the hook portion 17b to clear the bat before the bracket islifted.

In the illustration shown, the packaged or carded merchandise can behung on the pins 18. Such packaged merchandise is illustrateddiagrammatically in FIGS. 1 and 3 where the carded merchandise isdesignated by the letter M. It will be understood that normally each ofthe pins 18 will have a plurality of cards or packages hanging thereon,and each of the pins may provide a different kind or type ofmerchandise. Usually, the rack will be relatively full, with thepackages on each hanger being relatively closely spaced along the bars.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided amerchandise retrieval tray or tray means 20 which is carried by base 10beneath the merchandise-displaying bars 16a, 16b, etc. Tray means 20 ismounted on the upper surface 14 of the base 10 so that it is slidableoutwardly'from the front of the rack, as illustrated more particularlyin FIG. 2. To promote free inward and outward sliding of the tray, asuitable roller and tray mechanism may be provided between the bottom20a of the tray and the base top 14, as illustrated in FIGS. 4-7. In theillustration given, the base top 14 is provided with three of the tracks21, and the bottom 20a of the tray is provided with three cooperatingtracks 22. The lower track 21 provides an upwardly-extending wall 21a(FIG. 7) which at the forward end thereof carries rollers 23. Similarly,tracks 22 provide downwardly-extending walls 22a (FIG. 7) which at therear end thereof carry rollers 24. The rollers 23 bear against theunderside of track 22, while the rollers 24 bear against the top oftrack 21. The operative relation of these parts is illustratedparticularly in FIG. 7. Since the construction and operation of suchtrack and roller mechanisms is well known in the art, it is not believedthat it will be necessary to describe them further herein.

In achieving the maximum benefits of the present invention, the tray 20may be provided with upwardly-extending side walls 25 and 26, as shownmore clearly in FIGS. 1 and 3. These side walls may advantageouslyterminate below the level of the bar 16c, and bar 16a may advantageouslybe the second bar in the stepped rack. The first or lowermost bar 16extends between the walls 25 and 26 of the tray 20 and is carriedthereby. It will be understood that the bar 16 will also be providedwith a plurality of the hanger means, such as the brackets 17 and thepins 18. The purpose and advantage of this particular construction willsubsequently be described.

The tray 20 may also be provided with a rear wall or retaining strip 20band with a front wall or retaining strip 20c. These walls, however, arepreferably substantially shorter than the bar-supporting end walls 25and 26. However, with the construction shown, the rear and front walls20b, 20c can extend upwardly to a level above the lower ends of thepackaged merchandise which is carried on the lowermost bar 16 OperationIn the operation of stepped display racks incorporating the presentinvention, the rack will be filled with merchandise in the usual way.The packaged or carded merchandise may have holes in the upper portionsof the cards or packages which permit the packages to he slipped overthe pins 18, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. In the filling of the rackby the store employee, as well as in the selection of merchandise fromthe rack by store customers, some of the packages M may be dislodgedfrom the pins 18 and will drop downwardly into the tray 20. Suchdisplaced packages are illustrated diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 and 3,and somewhat more realistically in FIG. 4. These displaced packages Mcan be readily recovered by pulling the tray outwardly, as illustratedin FIG. 2. With the tray in its outer position, it is a simple matter toretrieve the displaced packages M and replace them on their appropriatepins 18. This can be done without disturbing any of the othermerchandise on the rack. As an added precaution, however, the displacedpackages can be removed from the tray 20 while it is in its extendedposition, and the tray can be returned to its normal retracted positionin FIG. 1 before the packages are replaced on the rack. When this isdone, if any other package should be accidentally dislodged, it willsimply fall downwardly into the tray, and can readily be retrieved. Theupwardly-extending walls of the tray will keep the displaced packagesconfined therein, and will prevent them from falling on the floor orslipping back out of the tray onto the base top 14.

Since some of the packaged merchandise M may have a substantialthickness, they may fall in such a Way that the ends of the packagesextend upwardly to a considerable height above the bottom 20a and thetray. It is therefore particularly advantageous to support the lowermostbar 16 on the tray itself. This permits the packages hanging on thelowermost bar 16f to extend downwardly almost to the tray bottom 20awithout presenting any displacement problem as the tray is withdrawn toretrieve merchandise which has fallen therein. This feature isillustrated particularly in FIG. 4. As will be observed, if bar 16remained stationary while the tray 20 was drawn forwardly, the displacedpackages M would in all probability come in contact with some ,of thehanging packages M, and this could lead to the dislodgement of thehanging packages on the lowermost bar 16 With the arrangement justdescribed, the display capacity of the rack can be fully utilized, Whileat the same time taking maximum advantage of the package retrieval feature.

While this invention has been described in relation to a specificembodiment thereof and many details have been set forth for purpose ofillustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that theinvention is susceptible to other embodiments and that certain of thedetails described herein can be varied considerably without departingfrom the basic principles of the invention.

I claim:

In a stepped display rack for packaged merchandise, ahorizontally-extending base providing an open front for said rack, sidepanels extending upwardly above said base to enclose the ends of saidrack, a plurality of horizontal bars for displaying said packagedmerchandise, most of said bars extending between said panels and beingcarried thereby and being arranged in upwardly stepped, offset relationfrom the front to the rear of said rack, hanger means spaced along saidbars for removably supporting a multiplicity of packaged merchandise,said hanger means including forwardly-extending pins "having freeforward ends for slidable insertion and removal of said packagedmerchandise, whereby said merchandise is subject to accidentaldislodgement from said hanger means, merchandise retrieval tray meanscarried by said base and extending beneath said merchandise displayingbars, the portions of said tray means in vertical alignment with each ofsaid bars and the hanger means thereon being in open, unobstructedcommunication therewith, and means (for slidably mounting said trlaymeans so that said tray means is slidable outwardly from the front ofsaid rack, whereby packaged merchandise accidentally dislodged from saidhanger means can be recovered by sliding out said tray and therebyavoiding the chance of dislodging additional merchandise.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 646,012 3/1900Strow 30 1,152,275 8/1915 Bourn 312-202 2,333,717 11/1943 Heed ..312502,349,351 5/1944 Jarvis 312-119 2,665,869 1/1954 Samuels 2482142,747,943 5/ 1956 Metcalf 3083.8

FOREIGN PATENTS 447,889 4/ 1948 Canada.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner,

